The Perfect Wedding Dress
by StatsGrandma57
Summary: Jaina the Bridezilla finds the perfect wedding dress for her marriage to Jag.


THE PERFECT WEDDING DRESS

Ever since Jaina and Jag had announced their engagement, the flurry of activity that had surrounded Jacen and Tenel Ka's six months prior resumed with a vengenace.

Han felt overwhelmed. It had been one thing to see his oldest son marry and and step into the world as a full grown man.

It was quite another to see your only daughter do the same.

Han had been grouchy since Jaina and Jag had given them the news. Jarik had been calling him Oscar in honor of a cartoon character he'd liked when he was younger. Jarik got away with a lot because, well, he was Jarik. He was a wiseass in the same way as his father.

Leia and Jaina were about to embark upon the search for a wedding dress. Leia knew this was going to be a challenge. Jaina was not going to fall in love with the first dress she saw or, for that matter, the fiftieth. Every bridal shop on Coruscant was going to find out that when it came to dresses, Jaina was going to be a Bridezilla.

And that didn't even include choosing bridesmaids' dresses.

"Jaina and I are heading out to look at wedding dresses," Leia informed her husband, who was watching smashball.

"And how many cargo runs is that gonna cost us?" Han grumbled.

"Han, this is our only daughter. She deserves a beautiful wedding."

Han didn't speak. He simply returned his attention to watching his team lose.

Leia leaned over and kissed him. "Try to be in a better mood when we get back, okay?"

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Leia and Jaina started their excursion at a cafe that served food reminiscent of the sidewalk cafes that had been prevalent on Alderaan.

"I looked at a bunch of holos," Jaina told Leia as they were waiting for their food to arrive. "Figures I'd pick a year where the styles sucked Tatooine sand."

"I'm sure there are some gowns that you'd like," Leia said as she sipped her tea.

"Everything's so poofy this year! I hate that."

"I sympathize." Leia herself had looked at the holos of wedding dresses and had not been impressed. Jaina was right about the current fashion-frills, oversized puffy sleeves, layers and layers of tulle. Some dresses featured as much as 25 meters of fabric. Definitely not Jaina. "But there have to be other dresses available." Leia hoped this was true. "Have you chosen a color for your bridesmaids?"

"Not yet."

"Perhaps you'll see something that will inspire you."

"Doubtful. I suppose I should ask my girls what color they'd like but considering we have trouble deciding what holoflick to watch, I could be married for years before they figured that one out."

"In that case, I suggest choosing the color. In my case, I told Winter and Najia that I'd chosen green to honor your father's homeworld. Corellian brides wear green."

"This ain't Corellia. I want a white dress."

"And we'll find one." Please, thought Leia fervently. Or I may have to start drinking heavily.

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The first bridal shop had been a disaster. There was not a gown in there that appealed to Jaina. The proprietress convinced Jaina to try on a few gowns, but Jaina had hated them. They were all true to the current style, making Jaina look like an overdecorated wedding cake. Jaina had inherited her mother's petite but curvaceous frame.

The second shop carried a few simpler gowns, but they were simple to the point of being completely uninteresting. Jaina expressed over and over that she was looking for something that flattered her figure and had some decoration, but not gaudy. Jaina had also indicated that she wanted sleeves but not puffy ones, and that she didn't want to wear a gown that left her shoulders bare. They were having a wedding close to when winter began and it was in the early evening, when temperatures dropped, especially in the foothills where the Jedi Temple was located. It was where Jacen and Tenel Ka had wed and Luke, now a priest in the Jedi order, was going to officiate. He'd joined Jacen and Tenel Ka as well.

And, Leia thought, it keeps the guest list at a max of 200. There had not been a thousand guest wedding since she and Han had married over 25 years ago. Cantham House had hosted others with up to 500 guests, but Leia had long passed the time that she felt she had to bring in representatives from the GFFA as a political maneuver. She only invited those guests that she really loved and wanted, and left the rest for Jaina and Jag and Jag's family to invite.

After visiting three bridal salons, Leia and Jaina headed home, Jaina visibly dejected.

"There are lots of other stores, sweetie," Leia said gently to her as they both sipped their kaf concoctions after what had been a frustrating day.

"Yeah, well, so far, not much luck," Jaina said, clearly annoyed.

"We can go again next weekend."

"Can't. Jag and me are doing a delivery on the Outer Rim. We're gonna be gone eleven days." The kids were taking over more of Han's cargo business as time went on. They'd finally gotten enough to purchase their own vessel, naming it _Spawn of the Millennium Falcon_. It had been Jag's idea.

Han still did plenty of work, mostly training young pilots as he had since the end of the Galactic Civil War. He did some deliveries as well, but years of hard work had left him with a bad back and he'd torn the tendons in his shoulder the previous year. He spent more time at home these years, mostly traveling with Leia when she needed to, and doing some lighter freight carriage. There had been some insurrections on various planets now and then, but it had been a long time since Han had flown one. Jaina and Jag were responsible for most of the heavy lifting.

"We'll go in two weeks, then," Leia said to her.

Jaina didn't appear to be very happy about the idea.

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Leia and Jaina had spend four weekends trying to find a dress that would suit Jaina. She was going to have to choose soon; the wedding was in six weeks.

On the trip home, Jaina burst into tears, something that was not common at all for her. Leia didn't blame her; nothing seemed right. Leia hadn't even found a suitable mother of the bride dress.

"What's with her?" Han asked as they entered the apartment, Jaina slamming the door of her room behind her.

"We've been to every bridal shop on Coruscant and can't find anything she likes."

"Is it really that important?" Han found the whole ritual of the perfect dress to be beyond his understanding.

"It is to her."

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Later on that evening, Jaina was staring at the wedding pictures of her mother and father. She was impressed with how radiant they were; her petite mother and tall father at the altar, dancing together, cutting the cake, laughing, smiling...

And her mother in the perfect wedding dress. It was simple enough, with just enough beading and lace. It fell perfectly on her mother.

"Mom!" Jaina yelled to her mother, who was watching a holoflick with her father. "C'mere!"

"Pause it, please," Leia instructed Han. She walked over to the HoloWall, which was covered with memories of their lives. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Mom, I want a dress just like yours!"

Leia frowned for a moment. "Well, I suppose we could find a dressmaker, perhaps. But if you don't think it's objectionable, I have my dress."

"You do? How come I never saw it?"

"Because it's bagged up in the back of my closet."

"Can we take a look at it, please?" Jaina begged.

"You might change your mind once you see it," Leia warned, going to the back of her closet and pulling out a large bag that resisted everything from weather to insects to small children.

Leia gently pulled it out and she and Jaina laid it on the bed.

"Mom, it's beautiful! It's perfect!"

"Go try it on before you make up your mind." Leia stepped out of the room.

"What's going on?" Han said. "She's not having another meltdown, is she?"

"I don't know yet."

Han and Leia were watching their holoflick when they heard her.

"Mom? Daddy?"

Both parents looked up and saw their daughter, a vision in her mother's wedding dress. Han gasped, and Leia smiled.

"It doesn't even need to be taken in!" Jaina said happily.

"You are lovely," Leia told her.

Han continued to stare, his mouth agape. When the power of speech returned to him, he said, "You're as beautiful as your mom was on our wedding day."

"Can I wear it, Mom? Please? I'll give it back, I promise."

"No. It's yours now," Leia told her, admiring her. "Now let me get the veil out."

Han sighed as mother and daughter left the room.

It's really gonna happen, he thought, feeling more than a little desolate. But at least it's not gonna cost five cargo runs.


End file.
